The true identity of Benedict Cumberbatch's villain was concealed in the run-up to the release of Abrams's sequel, with the character going by the name 'John Harrison' in publicity materials and throughout the first hour of the film.

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In an interview with MTV, Abrams confessed that, in retrospect, he wishes the secrecy could have been avoided.

"The truth is, I think it probably would have been smarter just to say upfront, 'This is who it is'," Abrams said.

"It was only trying to preserve the fun of it, and it might have given more time to acclimate and accept that's what the thing was."

He went on to explain that Paramount were keen not to alienate viewers by aiming the film too squarely at established Star Trek fans.

"The truth is because it was so important to the studio that we not angle this thing for existing fans, if we said it was Khan, it would feel like you've really got to know what Star Trek is about to see this movie.

"That would have been limiting. I can understand their argument to try to keep that quiet, but I do wonder if it would have seemed a little bit less like an attempt at deception if we had just come out with it."